We Bury the Dead

Last updated

We Bury the Dead
We bury the dead.jpeg
Australian theatrical release poster
Directed by Zak Hilditch
Written byZak Hilditch
Produced by
  • Kelvin Munro
  • Grant Sputore
  • Ross Dinerstein
  • Joshua Harris
  • Mark Fasano
  • Ari Novak
Starring
CinematographySteve Annis
Edited byMerlin Eden
Music by Clark
Production
companies
  • The Penguin Empire
  • Campfire Studios
  • Gramercy Park Media
  • Giant Leap Media
Distributed by
Release dates
  • March 9, 2025 (2025-03-09)(SXSW)
  • January 2, 2026 (2026-01-02)(United States)
  • February 5, 2026 (2026-02-05)(Australia and New Zealand)
Running time
94 minutes [1]
Countries
  • Australia
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

We Bury the Dead is a 2025 zombie survival thriller film written and directed by Zak Hilditch. It stars Daisy Ridley, Mark Coles Smith, Brenton Thwaites and Matt Whelan. The plot centers on a woman desperate to find her missing husband and follows her terrifying yet moving journey as she takes on grief, loss, and the undead. [2] [3]

Contents

We Bury the Dead had its world premier in March at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. It is currently scheduled for a limited theatrical release in the United States on January 2, 2026, and Australia and New Zealand on February 5, 2026.

Premise

Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley), a desperate woman, searches for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a "body retrieval unit", but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life. [2] [4]

Cast

Production

In October 2023, it was announced that a survival thriller film titled We Bury the Dead was in development, with Zak Hilditch directing and writing, and Daisy Ridley starring in the lead role. Principal photography began on February 19, 2024 in Albany, Western Australia. [6] [7] [8] Mark Coles Smith and Brenton Thwaites joined the cast of the film. [9] In March, Kym Jackson, Matt Whelan and Deanna Cooney joined the cast, as Lt. Wilkie, Mitch and Bianca respectively. [10]

Filming wrapped on March 26, 2024. [11]

Release

We Bury the Dead had its global premier at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in March. [12] It is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in North America on January 2, 2026 after Vertical's acquisition of the North American distribution rights in May 2025, [13] and in Australia and New Zealand on February 5, 2026. [14]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 19 critics' reviews are positive. [15]

In her review for IndieWire, Katie Rife wrote of We Bury the Dead: "Overall, the craft of the movie is top-notch, with compelling performances, urgent pacing, and gorgeous cinematography." [16] Siddhant Adlakha for Variety described the film as "at its most interesting and exciting when it approaches the well-worn [zombie] subgenre with brand-new spins, resulting in haunting scenes that open a cinematic window into the darkest, most mysterious parts of the human condition. Unfortunately, it keeps swerving back toward traditional horror territory at breakneck speed, resulting in a lopsided structure." [17]

Meagan Navarro, Head Critic of Bloody Disgusting, a horror genre-focused multimedia company, rated We Bury the Dead 2.5/5 stars, praising the movie for "delivering a few bursts of genuine scares" and "an awe-inducing sense of scale" and its star, Ridley, for delivering "more than one standout scene that induces chills." Criticizing the director for over-relying on well-worn zombie tropes, she concluded that "Hilditch frequently opts to avoid taking any new path forward in favor of sticking with the much travelled subgenre and grief theme, leaving you frustrated by all the fresh ideas dangled but not explored." [18]

Accolades

Award / FestivalDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Sitges Film Festival 19 October 2025 Best Feature FilmWe Bury the DeadPending [19]

References

  1. ↑ "We Bury the Dead". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Tangonan, E. J. (May 12, 2025). "Daisy Ridley's We Bury the Dead is bought by Vertical Entertainment ahead of Cannes". JoBlo. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  3. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ We Bury The Dead - Umbrella Entertainment
  5. ↑ "Daisy Ridley Is an Axe-Wielding Vigilante in First Look at Zak Hilditch's Survival Thriller 'We Bury the Dead'". Variety. August 21, 2024.
  6. ↑ Daisy Ridley To Star In Survival Thriller From Zak Hilditch, The Penguin Empire and Campfire Studios; Neon & UTA To Shop At AFM
  7. ↑ Work continues to finalise preparations for filming of We Bury the Dead at 'dream' Albany locations
  8. ↑ Minimal impact on Albany traffic expected during first two weeks of filming of We Bury The Dead
  9. ↑ Mark Coles Smith, Brenton Thwaites added to the bodies for Zak Hilditch's 'We Bury the Dead'
  10. ↑ Kym Jackson, Matt Whelan and Deanna Cooney Join Daisy Ridley in We Bury the Dead
  11. ↑ We Bury The Dead film wrapped up #DaisyRidley #WeBurythedead
  12. ↑ Grobar, Matt (January 22, 2025). "Seth Rogen Comedy Series 'The Studio' To Open SXSW 2025; 'The Accountant 2,' 'Death Of A Unicorn', 'Drop,' 'Happy Face' & More Also To Screen". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  13. ↑ Stevens, Abigail. "We Bury The Dead Trailer: Daisy Ridley Must Survive A Zombie Apocalypse In First Look". Screen Rant . Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  14. ↑ "'We Bury the Dead' (Teaser)". IF Magazine . October 8, 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  15. ↑ "We Bury the Dead | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  16. ↑ Rife, Katie (March 11, 2025). "'We Bury the Dead' Review: Daisy Ridley Goes Zombie-Hunting". IndieWire. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  17. ↑ Adlakha, Siddhant (March 12, 2025). "'We Bury the Dead' Review: Daisy Ridley Leads an Australian Disaster Flick Stuck in Zombie Movie Purgatory". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  18. ↑ Navarro, Meagan (March 13, 2025). "'We Bury the Dead' SXSW Review – Daisy Ridley Hunts for Closure in Stunning But Uneven Zombie Drama". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  19. ↑ "We Complete the 2025 line-up: Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos, Park Chan-wook, Carmen Maura, and Other Big Names in Contemporary Fantastic Genre". Sitges Film Festival . Archived from the original on September 14, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
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